“I really just wanted a different challenge, so it was good to scratch the itch,” says Dane Cameron of spending 2023 racing in the World Endurance Championship with Porsche Penske Motorsport in the 963. “But it’s nice also to be back in places that I’m very, very familiar with, very comfortable at. And I know a lot of the crew – there are several faces that were here through the Acura program as well. So it makes for a really easy transition to come back to the IMSA side.”
Cameron and Matt Campbell are switching places within the PPM organization. 2022 GTD PRO champ Campbell moves to the World Endurance Championship, while Cameron comes back to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to partner with Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 963 in GTP. Cameron has won three IMSA championships in three different categories – GTD with Turner Motorsport, Daytona Prototype with Action Express Racing and DPi with Acura Team Penske. Now he’ll be looking for his fourth title, this time in the second season of the new generation of GTP.
Cameron says he was glad to compete in WEC and race at some tracks that he hadn’t previously had the chance to experience. But he’s looking forward to returning the series that he describes as “home.”
“It feels like coming home. I think that’s probably the word I use the most,” he said.
“It’s somewhere I spent a ton of time, more than a decade racing here with a lot of good success and really trying to forge a name and a space for myself in sports cars. WEC was something I really wanted to do, but it always seemed a bit out of reach, being a North American guy; it just seemed difficult to get there and have that opportunity. I was happy to take that with both hands and give it my best shot and, yeah, a little disappointed with missing a few results here and there over there. But I really enjoyed the experience.
“I think I’m better for it in a lot of ways. But I’m also quite happy to be home at tracks that I love, that I’m comfortable at. The team environment is the same, so a lot of people that I know pretty well, even guys that were there through the Acura program, so it’s a pretty easy, seamless transition to kind of step back into this side of the paddock, and drop right in and then plug and play.”
Cameron says he’s looking forward to trying the new pavement at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Road America, two circuits he has personal ties to, hailing from California and his wife having family in the Chicago area. At the same time, he’s eagerly anticipating the rest of the circuits where he he has a pretty good idea what the tire degradation will be like, compared to most of the circuits last year where he was still learning. And he’s thankful that he’s racing alongside Nasr, who replaced Cameron at Action Express Racing when he moved to Penske for the Acura program, rather than against him.
“We drove together in the P2 car and spent a lot of time together through the development phase [in 2022], so we get on really, really well,” he said. “So I’m looking forward to having him and he was certainly one of the biggest pains in the ass to race when we were in different cars, so it’ll be definitely nice to share a car for a change!”
Ultimately, Cameron’s job is to help propel Penske and Porsche to a championship – one they could have won last season except for some misfortune. But Cameron, who has a title with Penske form the Acura years, also has some unfinished business with the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
“For whatever reason, it’s just been a massive thorn in my side, trying to get that race done,” he said. “As much as I want to get championship four, and five and whatever, I’d definitely give one up to get this race. Last year was difficult for us.
“I think the cars are more reliable now. We know we understand them better, and hopefully a little quicker. Last year was basically a kind of start from zero; you don’t really know who has what, what package has what strengths or weaknesses. So that was all new. But at the end of the day, we just have to focus on ourselves and make sure we get to the finish, because that was an issue we had at some of the big races last year. That’s where we need to be to make sure we’re in with a fighting chance, and obviously try to find a bit more pace along the way for us. I feel great about the guys that I have in the car with me, the learnings that we have. So I think we have a good shot for sure. But it gets more and more difficult every year to try to win this race.”
Cameron’s and Porsche Penske Motorsport’s attempt begins on Jan. 19 with the first day of the Roar before the 24, followed by the Rolex 24 at Daytona on Jan. 25-28.